Does your Internet Dental Marketing Allow Your Dental Practice show up on the Local Internet Search
For Google, Yahoo, and Bing??

There’s no doubt that we’re moving toward a more visual marketing world.  Potential patients often prefer consuming visual content to reading text. In fact, Facebook users are uploading 300 million photos to Facebook per day, up 20% from earlier this year. Even usage of the photo-sharing tool Instagram, purchased by Facebook in April of 2012, has increased 1,179% in six months.

But as a dental practice, will catering to this new trend in visual content have a positive impact on crucial engagement via social media? Which includes Facebook Likes, comments, and potentially even link clicks to your website?

The Impact of Photos on Generating Facebook Engagement

A recent study revealed that photos on Facebook Pages received 53% more Likes than the average post. They also compared each businesses’ average comments-per-photo to their overall average comments-per-post and found that photo posts attracted 104% more comments than the average post!

This percentage difference is substantial, and it emphasizes a huge opportunity for dental practices to use photos and videos as a means to increase Likes and comments, and thus there Facebook visibility. The more ”Likes” helps increase ranking inside of Facebook, which can then cause a page’s content to appear in News Feeds more often, increasing visibility and exposure.

Just take a look at how much more prominently photo posts are displayed on a Facebook Page compared to a link-based post that pulls in just a small thumbnail image. And as you can see, you can include links in photo posts, too:

Complaints about private dental treatment are up by 17% in 2012. (source: DCS)

Dentists have dealt with more than 1,800 complaints in the year 2012.

There were over 14,000 calls in just 11 months; that involved complaints about private dental care.

The REAL moral of this story is what are you doing to protect yourself online? Your online practice reputation impacts every form of marketing whether it’s direct mail, radio, TV, reactivation campaigns, EVEN internal referrals! Because the first thing someone does when they get a piece of your marketing is they “Google your name and business”. Period!

If you look disorganized and have little to no Google reviews, the prospective patient is gone. If you look professional and have LOADS of raving reviews, with videos of your best patients on page 1 of google, and your Google + page has mobile coupons etc… you get my point .

You get the patient, NOT the doc down the street! It’s free money.

Let me ask you a question….

• Do you have a Google reviews system that proactively gets you “5 star” online reviews?
• Do you have a automated internet alert system that tells you when someone’s talking bad about you online?
• Do you have a video testimonial system that generates videos of your best patients bragging about you online?

I can certainly tell you that almost 99% of the 1,800 complaints this year went on line and went “nutso” bashing everyone in sight, leaving nasty reviews, posting on blogs and forums and in some cases making videos about there bad experience. But I guarantee none of the practices even knew about it. This is total destruction for a dental practices reputation.

Now everyone has a bad day and can get a bad review, BUT this is 100% preventable. Here’s how….

1. Give your front desk and staff a script to say to every patient that filters out who will leave a bad review and who will leave a good review. This allows you to be proactive in getting more good ones than bad ones. (BTW- it’s near impossible and not worth the time and energy to get a review removed)
2. Get more “5 star ” Google reviews than bad ones. Google reviews TRUMP all other reviews online. Unfortunately most dentists have been lied to by DemandForce, Smile Reminders, 1-800-Dentist and Light House, telling them that they can post reviews on Google. That is completely false. All you have is “virus, spammy” looking link at the bottom of the Google + Local page, that no one clicks on or reads. You need Google reviews, it’s what patients read first and trust most.
3. Create a video testimonial system that collects 40-60 second videos of your best patients talking about how you changed their life for the better. There is nothing more powerful than 3rd party social proof talking about how amazing of a dental practice you are.  I actually did this for my own company to show you how powerful it is.Click here after you read the rest of this blog to see how I rank
4. Syndicate and rank the videos to Youtube and dozen’s over other video sites that Google endorses. Now, this will require some internet marketing skills , but can be done and should be done because if no one sees the videos when they “google your name and practice” they’re worthless!
5. Get articles and press releases written about you and your practice that “talk you up” and load them with patient quotes talking about the amazing practice you have and how great the staff is. Then what you do is syndicate them on the web, using PR web services, so that the whole internet can see, and anyone Google’ing around for you can read first hand from a 3rd party site that you’re a trustworthy dentist. They will definitely call you to book an appointment after reading one of these!

These 5 steps should get you started. Your online reputation is all you have when someone is trying to decide whether or not to pick up the phone and call you VERSUS the doc down the street.

So put your best foot forward and be the doc EVERYONE trusts and calls!

PLEASE POST A COMMENT OR QUESTION BELOW. I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU

Always watching your back,
Graig Presti

Are you having trouble engaging your patients on Facebook? Nearly every day I’m asked how to build fans and engage more patients on Facebook.

Fundamentally, people want to know more about you before they decide to choose you as their dentist. They want to see what values you share with them and how they align with you and your practice. You do the same when we’re considering a purchase, right? We all reflect on our trusted network to see who can help us find the best dental practice.

Today’s social practice develops its community on Facebook to mirror its practice in real life. Engaging with your patients, online or offline, has the most impact on sales.

Here are 17 steps to help you attract and engage your community on Facebook:

1. Define your marketing goals. Dissect how you want your patients to think of you. Describe at least six components of your practice that make you unique. 

2. Commit time, people, and a budget. I see many practices hiring a dedicated “social media managers” to handle social media and digital marketing. Content that drives stellar engagement does not grow on trees. It takes a lot of time and energy. They’ll need a lot of iformation, primarily from experst to guide the, as well as a budget for training and Facebook ads. Find a good member’s site to join, so that your staff can learn from pro’s at their own pace.

3. Identify and describe your “ideal” patient. What are they interested in? What problems can you solve? What fun things are happening in your area that they’d want to know about? How can you help them choose you?

4. Post high-quality content regularly. It can be content you write yourself or content from others that’s relevant to your patients. Posting times matter, too; test what works for you.

5. Make your updates more interactive. Ask thought-provoking questions to get people talking. Stick to subjects that are relevant to your audience, and always reflect your store’s personality.

6. The “like,” “comment,” and “share” buttons are powerful tools. Include these on your website and blog to foster sharing and make it easier for your patient to engage with you and their network.

7. Make use of landing-page apps. Hire someone to guide you in the design, and make sure your marketing language is front and center. Getting people to connect with you does not happen on its own; you must ask.

8. Sharing is caring. Recognize and promote local heroes, members of the community, and causes you support. If those causes have Facebook pages, “like” their page and connect with their community members.

9. If you have a blog (and you should) syndicate it on Facebook. It builds credibility and boosts your online influence. Blogs are the next frontier when it comes to SEO. When you hear talk about “search and social,” blogs are at the core of it.

10. Everyone likes free stuff. Infuse your content with coupons, discounts, and service specials, but don’t overdo it. It’s about community engagement, not broadcasting.

11. Deal with negativity openly and clearly. This is your chance to show the community how you make things right for your patients. Or you can delete it

12. Include Facebook links and tags in all your offline media. Make it easy for patients to find you.

13. Take advantage of the awesome power of Facebook ads. There has never been a more specific way to laser-target those you want to reach. With the use of ads manager, your Facebook ads are efficient and very inexpensive…but use your budget wisely.

14. Always TRACK. Social marketing goes like this: Create, post, analyze, repeat. When you know what your audience likes, supply them with more of it. Analyze your results to improve your patient’s Facebook experience.

15. Know that social media (like all other marketing) is a work in progress. If you make a mistake (and you most certainly will), take responsibility. I’ve seen some pretty big social media failures, and in every case the response has been handled poorly. Be smart.

16. Encourage your offline patients to join your Facebook community. Post signs at all the conspicuous places, and train your staff on how to promote your Facebook page. Recognize and reward them for contributing to your social media success.

17.  Know how to spot a lead when it comes your way. Always respond to comments quickly. It’s a conversation, and people expect a timely reply.

Please leave comment or question below. I will read and answer everyone of them!
If you want to learn more about Facebook Marketing For Dentists, click here to access my members site.

Make it a great day!
Graig